It poses horrible scenarios and forces you to choose between them. For example... would you rather age from the neck up only, or the neck down only? Or... would you rather be really rich or really poor but find true love?

Well here's a kicker for you... would you rather watch your dream fall to pieces because you wouldn't go to bed with your boss who promised to "make you a star"...

OR...

...would you rather give in just that one time to finally get your shot at the career you have worked so hard for?

That one time a 1930's Hollywood Icon Learned How to Say "$&!@ Off!"

Sometimes the things that make a person iconic have rather unusual beginnings borne of necessity. For Carole Lombard, the thing that changed her career path started as a defense mechanism, when she was presented with the same exact "Would you rather?" dilemma. In Larry Swindell's biography Screwball, he repeats a story her brother told. It seems one day his sister came home from the studio full of anger, and with a strange request:

"Without beating around the bush, she said she wanted us to teach her all the dirty words we knew -- when to say them and what they meant."

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Indeed, the proverbial casting couch was calling, and Carole wanted no part of it. But how to get the studio executives to hire her otherwise? She knew she would have to become one of them -- and she knew that cussing was a sure-fire way to do so.

A woman has just as much right in this world as a man and can get along in it just as well if she puts her mind to it.

It worked. In an era where women were supposed to be prim and proper, Carole stood out. The men were flabbergasted at first... but soon she became not just a pretty face but a worthy opponent... and more importantly, a friend.

"Kiss my ass!" says Carole Lombard. Yeah, girl!

Soon, her rough tongue became part of her legend. "Kiss my ass" became her most legendary put-down, indeed, it was engraved on a brass plate attached to the front door of her Hollywood home.

I’ve lived by a man’s code designed to fit a man’s world, yet at the same time, I never forget that a woman’s first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick.

— Carole Lombard

But underneath it all was something that people found charming about her -- at its heart her tongue was just another way of keeping it real with everyone. She said what she thought. She refused to remain silent.

And not only her peers, but the American people, loved her for it.

So... the next time you find yourself in your own dilemma, whatever form it takes, I guess the eternal question remains.... would you rather?

enjoyed this story? check out these other inspiring stories about the incredible Carole Lombard:

It poses horrible scenarios and forces you to choose between them. For example... would you rather age from the neck up only, or the neck down only? Or... would you rather be really rich or really poor but find true love?

A few weeks ago my hubby accepted a weekend gig officiating tennis in Las Vegas. For some reason, I strangely adore the trip across the desert: the occasional Joshua tree, the weird roadside diners, the site of The Strip lighting up the horizon.

Since I was going to have a lot of time to myself, I made a list of things to do. The secret pizza joint at the Cosmopolitan, a day poolside at the Paris Hotel, and finally, a little jaunt out to what some call...

The Most Haunted Place in America

An avid Carole Lombard fan, I felt a certain reverence visiting this place. Perhaps it is because I just finished Fireball, which details the story of her tragic death in a plane crash.

I thought I knew everything about Lucille Ball... until I found out that she believed with all of her heart that her role model, Carole Lombard, visited her on a regular basis, after Lombard's untimely death in 1942 in a plane crash.

Indeed, Lucille Ball and Carole Lombard were dear friends. In her early days as a struggling actress, Lucy spent a lot of time on the studio lot observing Lombard, trying to mimic her. Rather than be offended or threatened by the fledgling wannabe, Lombard encouraged Lucy along, giving her a few of her biggest breakthroughs in Hollywood.

In the March 1947 edition of Photoplay, Lucy says to the interviewer that Carole Lombard... "... is my guardian angel.”

“She was?” the interviewer responds. As in, oh, how nice. Her role model helped her along.

Happy Independence Day weekend! I hope you are celebrating life and liberty with your loved ones. While you are eating BBQ, jumping into lakes, and splashing in the hot sun, I hope you will drink a toast to the men & women who fought to give us our freedoms.

And I can't think of a better drink to do so than one steeped in Revolutionary War history.

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